The Blood of Dawnwalker: How to Sit in the Pew Next to Pieter and Esme

Sacred Covenant is the Prologue quest that ends Coen’s last normal day in Laslea Glen. Once you enter the church at sundown, the objective “Sit in the pew next to Pieter and Esme” is the trigger that starts the blood mass, so everything else you want to do inside the church has to happen first.

Quick answer: Walk down the centre aisle to the second occupied row on the right, stand at the empty space beside Esme, and press the F Sit Down prompt. The mass cutscene begins immediately.

Where Pieter and Esme sit in the Laslea church

Enter through the main doors and follow the aisle towards the altar. Pieter and Esme are seated together on the right-hand side, in the second row that has villagers in it. Esme is on the aisle side with a gap next to her, and Pieter sits beyond her.

Two prompts appear when you get close. F Talk with Esme targets Esme herself and only opens dialogue. F Sit Down targets the empty space in the pew and is the one that completes the objective. Aim at the gap, not at your mother, or you will keep opening conversation instead of sitting.

Church interior with the Sacred Covenant objective to sit in the pew next to Pieter and Esme — The Sacred Covenant objective marker pointing to the pew where Pieter and Esme are seated. Image: Rebel Wolves

Talk with other villagers before you sit down

The quest lists “(Optional) Talk with other villagers” alongside the main objective. These conversations close permanently the moment you sit, because the cutscene runs straight through to the end of the ceremony.

Villager	Where they are
Vasil	At the front of the church
Gavril and Lazar	At the back, near the entrance
Anca and Vladimir	Third row, directly behind Pieter and Esme

Anca’s conversation is the substantial one. After she asks how Esme is holding up, you can pick “So I can come see you even when I’m not running errands?” to flirt with her.

Coen standing in the church aisle among seated villagers before the blood mass — Villagers gathered inside the church before the mass begins, including the rows behind Pieter and Esme. Image: Rebel Wolves

Trigger the mass cutscene

Finish any conversations you want with Vasil, the brothers at the back, and Anca and Vladimir. Nothing in the church is repeatable once the ceremony starts.

Move to the right-hand pew and line up your view with the empty seat beside Esme so the F Sit Down prompt replaces the talk prompt.

Press the interact key. Coen sits, the objective clears, and Father Florin steps up to begin the sermon. Control returns only for the two timed dialogue choices.

Coen seated in the pew beside Esme as the blood mass cutscene begins — Taking the seat next to Esme starts the mass cutscene. Image: Rebel Wolves

Father Florin’s sermon and both timed choices

Florin opens by talking about Sister Gremla, who was hanged after failing a task set for her by Knyaz Brencis, and frames her death as a lesson for the congregation. Esme starts crying in the pew beside you. He then defends Brencis drinking the village’s blood, reminding everyone of the plague, war and famine that came before the vampire’s arrival.

Father Florin preaching from the pulpit about plague, war and famine during the blood mass — Florin at the pulpit, justifying the pact with Knyaz Brencis. Image: Rebel Wolves

Two “Time to Decide” prompts interrupt the sermon. Both offer a spoken line or “[remain silent]”, and both are on a timer, so decide quickly.

Prompt	Options	Result of speaking
After “We err, such is our nature. Hence, we need a shepherd.”	“This is sick.” / [remain silent]	Coen mutters his disgust out loud and Pieter shushes him to avoid drawing attention
After “Such is the nature of our sacred covenant. May it last forever.”	“May it forever endure.” / [remain silent]	Coen joins the villagers in the response line instead of sitting it out

Timed dialogue prompt offering This is sick or remain silent during the sermon — The first timed choice during Florin’s sermon, offering “This is sick.” or staying quiet. Image: Rebel Wolves

Neither response blocks the quest. Speaking up marks Coen out as unhappy in front of the people around him, while silence keeps him invisible for the rest of the ceremony.

How to confirm the objective is complete

The pew objective is cleared as soon as the cutscene takes over. Florin ends the sermon with “Let us rise. Let us greet our saviour, our knyaz, our Father’s representative in this vale of tears,” and the scene fades as Brencis and his officers enter the church.

From there the ceremony plays out on its own. Esme is brought to the altar and made to drink, Brencis judges her weak, and Coen snaps back at him before the story cuts away to the family home and the silver mines. Sacred Covenant then completes and awards 250 XP, and Bad Blood begins with Coen waking up wounded underground.

Reasons the sit prompt does not appear

You are aiming at Esme. The talk prompt takes priority when she is centred on screen. Step sideways and target the empty seat.
You are at the wrong row. The pair are in the second occupied row on the right of the aisle, not the front row and not the row where Anca and Vladimir are sitting.
You are still mid-conversation. Close any active villager dialogue before the prompt will register.

Note: how Esme fares at the altar is decided before you ever reach the church. The medicine you brew during Withering Away, using hot rather than boiling water and three spoonfuls of Anca’s herbs, is what determines whether she can survive the blood mass. Sitting down in the pew locks that outcome in, so make sure the brew is right before sundown.